Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 192 The city is broken
Counting from the day they crossed the river, Duoduo and Zhu Cilang had been fighting for two months.

Although the Qing army once had an absolute advantage during this period, due to various reasons, this advantage has now disappeared. In fact, the Qing army has even become the suppressed party on some levels.

For example, the acquisition of military intelligence, and the abundance of food and fodder.

The issue of food and fodder is not difficult to understand.

After Zhenjiang was captured, Duoduo strictly ordered all armies to recruit troops locally, but for many years ago, the food supply in Jiangnan had to be allocated from other provinces.

So after going on many expeditions, each army brought with them a lot of silver, money and other valuables, but the food they had was just enough to eat.

As for the military situation, it is closely related to the outcome of the war.

When in Yingtian, Zhu Cilang could not even grasp the situation within 10 to 20 miles outside the city, but as the war situation developed, Yingtian gradually established contact with the Ming troops scattered everywhere.

Later, he used this as a weapon to infiltrate various places through the Taihu water system throughout the south of the Yangtze River. In this way, he could continue to obtain various military intelligence in the south of the Yangtze River after leaving the central cities such as Yingtian and Hangzhou.

But this kind of thing usually has a bit of a trade-off.

As the war situation became passive, they would naturally withdraw their hands and feet as soon as possible, but Duoduo had spread too much breadth in the early stage, and this withdrawal, to some extent, caused the Qing troops scattered in various cities to fall into chaos.

As a result, Duoduo was unable to find his feet and his hands could not touch his body. He almost lost control of the other troops, and the Qing army began to fight on their own.

Of course, Duoduo had somewhat anticipated the occurrence of this situation. After all, his opponent was in this situation not long ago.

Therefore, in order to break through the blockade of the Ming army as soon as possible and establish contact with other routes, the Qing army's attack on Xuancheng was extremely fierce.

If their army had not arrived in a hurry and had not had sufficient time to build various equipment, it is possible that the combination of weak soldiers in this small city would not have been able to hold out until now.

However, the defenders of Xuancheng were all strong civilians. Even though they had captured some spoils when attacking various cities, their armor was only about 20% to 30% of what it was.

After two days of defending the city, the losses are about to reach the limit.

"Teacher, the Tartar generals have just retreated. Why don't you go and rest for a while? I will keep an eye on the city."

Jiang Tianyi was sharpening his knife during a break in the battle, but when he turned around to scoop out some water, Jin Sheng's exhausted figure came into his sight.

After all, he came from a poor family, and although he spent most of his energy on studying when he was young, he could still do some chores. So he took the initiative to stop the knife sharpening so that the soldiers could have more rest. He thought he was doing his best.

"The Tartars' offensive is getting more and more fierce. I'm afraid they have figured out our strengths and weaknesses. I think there will only be one or two more waves."

There was no agreement or rejection in Jin Sheng's words, but anyone could understand his thoughts from the hidden meaning.

When facing the first wave of attacks by the Qing army, Xuancheng was not as unprepared as Ningguo. When they successfully blocked it, Jin Sheng's confidence increased greatly, and he even thought about how to keep all these Tartars under the city.

But in the final analysis, the most closely related to military affairs in his resume was just that of Military Inspector, and his grasp of the enemy situation and the war situation was basically just that of seeing a pig run.

Afterwards, the Qing army replaced a section of the city wall every time they attacked, and each time they replaced the city wall they only did it briefly.

Only then did he realize that these attacks were just tests by the Qing army and the real siege had not yet come.

At this point, Jin Sheng had made a judgment in his heart as to whether Xuancheng could be defended.

“Rustle~~, rustle~~.”

After hearing this, Jiang Tianyi said no more and immediately focused all his attention on the blade in his hand, and the sound of iron rubbing against stone rang out again.

At this time, their arrows had been exhausted. Although there were a few hunters in the city who could help, their speed was far from enough to make up for the consumption on the city. In this situation, whether the sword could break the Tartar armor became extremely critical.

"Military Supervisor! The Tartars are coming!"

At this moment, a shout came from the mouth of a soldier, and Jin Sheng, who was so exhausted that he didn't want to move even half a step, stood up with a bang.

"Please ask the city's leader to come out and speak!"

Before Jin Sheng got close to the city wall, he heard someone shouting loudly from below the city. Then Jiang Tianyi seemed to have thought of something, and took two quick steps to stop him.

"Teacher, the Tartars are skilled in archery, beware of deception!"

This was not because he was being overly suspicious. When he was defending the city, heavy arrows were often shot from below the city.

At first they didn't care too much. After all, according to common sense, they were in a high position and had the advantage of terrain anyway.

Even if the Tatar archers rushed into the city and shot arrows within range, the arrows shot from bottom to top would lose their power after flying for a certain distance.

But when several soldiers in armor were killed by arrows due to carelessness, the defenders in the city realized what the so-called "unparalleled riding and archery" really meant.

"It doesn't matter."

After saying this softly, Jin Sheng straightened his official robe. Although the bloodstains and tears on it did not necessarily change, it was much smoother than when he was about to stand up.

"I am Jin Sheng, the Imperial Censor of the Ming Dynasty. If you want to leave, you can do so. If you want to leave, there is no need to say more."

Jin Sheng naturally knew what the Tartar soldier was going to say. He had even guessed that the Qing army would attack with all their might after he retreated.

However, if the enemy sent a message, our own officers would not even have the courage to respond, which would also cause great damage to morale.

That's why he came out and directly blocked his mouth.

"So that they can know in person that the one leading the siege is the Prince Yu of the Qing Dynasty.

My prince has said before that if you open the city and surrender,
Not only will you be exempted from the crime of blocking the royal army, but you will also be given wealth and splendor. But if you persist in your wrongdoings, Yangzhou and Ningguo will be your fate!"

The most important sentence in this passage is the last one, whose purpose is to use "the whole city was massacred" to undermine the morale of the defenders.

As for other things, Duoduo did not expect any effect.

But is it true that this Jin Sheng’s position as the Imperial Censor is in vain?
He is useless when it comes to killing enemies in battle, but when it comes to a war of words, who is he afraid of?

"You dare to lie to me when you are about to die! My prince has led a large army to cut off your way back. If you dismount and surrender, I can speak well of you in front of His Highness. Otherwise, Xuancheng will be your burial place!"

With just a few short sentences, he not only eliminated the damage to his morale caused by the enemy's intimidation, but also dissipated the "false news" to confuse the enemy.

Seeing this situation, the Tartar soldier didn't seem too surprised. He said "take care of yourself" and turned his horse to go back to his own camp.

"Teacher, Palace"

Jin Sheng then turned around, Jiang Tian took a step forward and was about to ask something, but before he could utter a few words, he saw his teacher raising his hand.

Then he saw the teacher standing on a wooden box.

"According to the Ningguo soldiers, Qiu Zhongcheng shouted for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince before he was executed. Based on this, I infer that His Royal Highness must have sent troops to help!" Upon hearing this, the soldiers around him were all delighted. Seeing that his method was effective, he immediately struck while the iron was hot and said, "As long as we hold on for a few more days, reinforcements will surely come to rescue us. Xuancheng will not have to repeat the mistakes of Ningguo!"

At this moment, the haze that shrouded the hearts of the soldiers on the city seemed to dissipate because of these few words, and Jin Sheng walked out of the crowd with a square step as if he had won the victory.

His performance naturally boosted the morale of the soldiers on the city wall, but Jiang Tianyi, who had followed him for many years, felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

He originally thought that his teacher had obtained new military intelligence, but after a while he had figured it out clearly.

It is true that Qiu Zhongcheng shouted loudly before his execution, but the fleeing soldier was too far away to hear it clearly. In addition, he and his teacher had been on the city wall for the past two days and had not seen any new military intelligence.

Thinking about it this way, there is probably only one possibility.

After guessing the truth, Jiang Tianyi was naturally a little disappointed, but he also knew that he had no choice.

But both he and Jin Sheng underestimated the effect of these lies.

"How do they know so much?!"

After the Tartar soldier returned, he reported the conversation between the two sides in detail. After hearing the words about "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince", before Duoduo could react, Kong Youde exclaimed.

When attacking Ningguo, they thought that this group of people was sent by Zhu Cilang, but after talking with Qiu Zude for a few words, they realized that these people seemed to have no connection with Hangzhou.

In this way, when attacking Xuancheng, Duoduo would naturally prepare according to such a situation.

But now.
"Impossible!" After pondering for a long time, Duoduo made a firm conclusion. After a few breaths, he continued, "Xuancheng is far away. If even Ningguo has no connection with Hangzhou, how can this place be possible?"

This is obviously the truth. No matter how you think about it, it is impossible that places nearby are unaware of the news while places far away get the news.

But in Kong Youde's opinion, their troops had now cut off contact with other armies. It might be an exaggeration to say that they were surrounded, but there would be no problem in describing them as deep in enemy territory.

In such a situation, it is natural to send out more scouts and make more preparations.

"Why not send an army to make some arrangements in the back?"

"No."

Hearing this, Kong Youde couldn't help but be a little surprised.

If you prepare in advance, you will succeed; if you don't, you will fail.

If you want to win, you must consider all situations carefully and be prepared to deal with them.

Judging from the current situation, they have more than enough troops for siege. Regardless of whether what the defender said is true or not, there is no harm in making some arrangements.

Why would Keduoduo
"The generals on the city wall can see our troops clearly. If we send an army to the rear at this time, wouldn't it prove what the general said?"

hiss.
As soon as he finished speaking, Kong Youde couldn't help but take a breath.

The experiences of the past few days seemed to have awakened all his memories of his time in Shandong, and when he made the decision, he was somewhat wary as if he was being besieged.

But it was precisely because of this vigilance that he focused all his energy on paying attention to the movements around him, but ignored certain situations in front of him.

"Thank goodness you're here."

Hearing Kong Youde's words, Duoduo just smiled, then he pointed the sword in his hand forward, and then more than ten teams of soldiers carrying ladders went towards the city wall.

Jin Sheng was right. This was the strongest attack launched by the Qing army after some trials. In order to make this attack foolproof, Duoduo, who had always been sympathetic to his bannermen, even sent out nearly a hundred armored men led by more than a dozen white-armored soldiers.

With such a deployment of troops, let alone the rebels under Jin Sheng who didn't even have complete armor, even if Zhu Cilang's guards came, they could probably only rely on their numerical advantage to consume the enemy's power.

"Fire arrows!"

As the distance got closer, the white-armored soldier in the lead let out a low shout, and then heavy arrows flew towards the city.

Seeing this, the defenders without arrows could do nothing but duck and dodge. The Qing soldiers carrying ladders took advantage of this opportunity to run wildly.

Then he placed the ladder between the battlements.

"Pick up the pole!"

"Pick up the pole!"

The wall of Xuancheng was no more than two or three zhang high. Shouts were heard from the top of the city, and Qing soldiers below the city clung to the back of the ladders.

In this way, before the first climbers climb up the ladder, the soldiers can use their own weight to minimize the effect of the pole.

"No! One more person!"

One of the guards used the pole to hook the ladder, but no matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't push it open.

After two days of fighting, those who were still alive naturally had experience. Seeing this situation, they naturally knew that the Qing army had hung heavy objects on the ladder.

However, on the battlefield, all kinds of changes were happening all the time. When someone came to help him, he saw a Qing army had already appeared between the battlements.

"Oops!"

Once the thought came to the mind, the soldier did not delay at all. Before the Tartar actually climbed up the city wall, he picked up the sword from the ground and then stabbed it fiercely into his face.

"when!"

"puff!"

Since they were sent to advance first, the white-armored soldiers would naturally not fall behind. In their eyes, the knife stabbed by the Ming army soldier was powerful enough, but its accuracy and control were not great.

When the sword was about a foot away from his face, he swung the sword and then slashed the Ming soldier's neck with it, and then a stream of hot blood gushed out.

As the first person to climb the city wall, the white-armored soldier would not be satisfied with this.

Taking advantage of the gap when the surrounding Ming soldiers had not yet reacted, he stabbed and chopped, and in just five or six breaths he cleared a space for the three connected battlements behind him.

The situation here was seen by Master Jin Sheng and his disciple, but these weak scholars could only watch everything happen when faced with such a situation, without any way out.

"Teacher, you are the leader of an army! Please retreat into the city and make plans!"

After he finished speaking, Jiang Tianyi seemed to be afraid that his teacher would not allow it. As soon as the words were about to come out of his mouth, he picked up the sharpened sword with both hands and rushed into the group of Tartars.

"Hanying!"

(End of this chapter)